Swine flu is similar to seasonal flu. The virus is spread when infected people cough or sneeze. Symptoms include a fever, headache, sore throat, aches and chills. Vomiting and diarrhea may occur as well. In April 2009, a new strain of swine flu (A/California/04/2009--H1N1) was detected. It contains a unique mix of genetic material from human, bird, and pig viruses. Six of the eight genes came from swine flu H1N2 viruses circulating in the United States from 1999-2001. The other two genes came from swine flu viruses circulating in Europe from 1985-1998. No one knows when, where, or how they were mixed together and mutated to form the current H1N1 virus.(8)

The current swine flu infection has been passed from person to person around the world. However, according to Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the CDC, "The overwhelming majority of people with [swine] flu are going to do just fine. They won't need testing and they won't need treatment."(9) In fact, most of the 36 U.S. children who died from swine flu during the Spring and Summer of 2009 had underlying medical problems: neurodevelopmental and respiratory disorders.(10) More than half of the adults who died from swine flu had an underlying chronic illness or medical condition, such as asthma, diabetes, immune deficiency, or morbid obesity.(11) Most of the people who became ill recovered without requiring medical treatment. Nevertheless, on June 11, 2009 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic due to the rapid spread of the virus.

Although swine flu can be treated with antiviral medicine, authorities initiated a campaign to develop several new swine flu vaccines and inoculate the population. This also occurred in 1976, when the CDC made up a false tale of deadly swine flu epidemics sweeping the nation if mass vaccinations were not quickly instituted. U.S. citizens were systematically vaccinated, and several weeks later hundreds were stricken with the crippling Guillain-Barre syndrome; several of the vaccinated people died.(12,13)

During the summer of 2009, several vaccine manufacturers raced to develop and test new swine flu vaccines hoping to make them available by the Fall of 2009. However, according to Margaret Chan, head of WHO, "Having a vaccine available is not the same as having a vaccine that is proven safe."(14) In fact, the "informed consent" form given to people brave enough to test the new vaccines excluded a list of ingredients. Dr. Barbara Mulach, with the National Institutes of Health, explained: "Because the product is still not licensed, we are evaluating this vaccine under the Investigational New Drug (IND) statute. Under this statute, the information about composition is considered proprietary."(15)

Additional research revealed that some of the new vaccines will be conventional flu shots while others will be live-virus vaccines squirted up the nose. About 80 percent of the new swine flu vaccines will contain mercury.(16) Two manufacturers, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, are experimenting with squalene,(17) a controversial adjuvant (immune stimulant) which was used in anthrax vaccines and may be associated with Gulf War Illness.(18) Another company, Protein Sciences, developed a swine flu vaccine using insect cell technology. This was done by infecting fall armyworm (caterpillar) cells with a baculovirus carrying the gene for hemagglutinin, a molecule on the surface of the H1N1 virus.(19)

In June of 2009, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, invoked the little-known 2006 Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREPA), giving legal immunity to swine flu manufacturers for injuries stemming from the use of swine flu vaccines and "any associated adjuvants" (such as squalene).(20) Nevertheless, authorities are determined to give one or more doses of these vaccines to millions of pregnant women, children, caretakers of children, young adults, healthcare workers, military personnel, and older people with chronic illness.(21,22) Healthcare workers who refuse the vaccine may lose their jobs.(23) Other people who refuse the vaccine may be quarantined, as permitted by federal law.(24)

People Vaccinated Against Seasonal FluAre Twice as Likely to Catch Swine Flu

A new Canadian study has found that people vaccinated against seasonal flu are twice as likely to catch swine flu. The paper is currently under peer review, therefore lead researchers Dr. Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia
Centre for Disease Control and Dr. Gaston De Serres of Laval University must remain quite until it's published. However, the Health Ministrys of several provinces, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia, have suspended seasonal flu shots for everyone under 65 years of age. According to Dr. Ethan Rubinstein, head of adult infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba, this study "has certainly cost us credibility from the public because of conflicting recommendations."

Dr. Rubinstein, who has read the study, said it appears sound. "There are a large number of authors, all of them excellent and credible researchers," he said. "And the sample size is very large -- 12 or 13 million people taken from the central reporting systems in three provinces. The research is solid." However, even if the statistical link is proven, the medical link between seasonal flu shots and H1N1 remains mysterious. One hypothesis suggests that seasonal flu vaccines preoccupy immune cells that would otherwise produce antibodies against swine flu.

As Reported in The Globe and Mail, Winnipeg (September 30, 2009).

Ingredients in Current (2009-2010)Swine Flu Vaccines

Four swine flu vaccines have been licensed by the FDA and are currently being administered throughout the United States. They are manufactured by 1) CSL Limited, 2) Novartis, 3) Sanofi Pasteur, and 4) MedImmune. Here is a summary of the age groups they are recommend for, the ingredients they contain, and other pertinent information:

MedImmune: For people 2 years through 49 years of age. (This vaccine is squirted up the nose.) Each dose contains the live "pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus," MSG, pig gelatin, egg proteins, arginine, sucrose, potassium phosphate, and gentamicin sulfate (an antibiotic).

Notes of Interest:
All four of these swine flu vaccines were made by mimicking earlier seasonal flu vaccines (and by adding the new swine flu virus). However, the manufacturers admit in their product inserts that these new swine flu vaccines were NOT tested for safety or efficacy. The FDA allowed them to be rushed to market assuming that they will be similar in safety and efficacy to previous flu vaccines.

All four of the swine flu manufacturers acknowledge in their product inserts that several debilitating ailments could occur in people following their flu vaccines. These include: blood and lymphatic disorders (lymphadenopathy, thrombocytopenia), nervous system disorders (convulsions, Guillain-Barre syndrome, or GBS, Bell's palsy, and various neuropathies), respiratory ailments, immune system disorders, digestive disorders, and cardiovascular disorders.

Although swine flu vaccines (and seasonal flu vaccines) are recommended for pregnant women, the vaccine product inserts clearly admit that flu vaccines have never been tested on pregnant or nursing women to determine if they will harm fetuses or babies.

This incredible reference book is the world's most complete guide to immunization risks and protection. It includes pertinent information on every major vaccine: polio, tetanus, MMR, hepatitis A, B, HPV (cervical cancer), Hib, Flu, chickenpox, shingles, rotavirus, pneumococcal, meningococcal, RSV, DTaP, anthrax, smallpox, TB, and more. All of the information, including detailed vaccine safety and efficacy data, is written in an easy-to-understand format, yet includes more than 1,000 scientific citations. More than 100 charts, graphs and illustrations supplement the text. This encyclopedic health manual is an important addition to every family's home library and will be referred to again and again.